Skip Navigation

U.S. Department of Health & Human ServicesLink to www.hhs.gov
OMH Home

En Español
The Office of Minority Health (Phone: 1-800-444-6472)
About OMH
Our Services
Campaigns/Initiatives
Press Releases
Calendar
Employment
Publications
Federal Clearinghouses
Research
OPHS Home
Image of a person asking a questionNeed Help?
Contact Us


Aids.gov - Access to U.S. Government HIV and AIDS information

To find HIV Test Centers near you Text: Your Zip Code To: KnowIt (566948) www.hivtest.org

HIV/AIDS Awareness Days
Join Our Mailing ListJoin Our Mailing List
Click to sign up


OMH Content

Mental Health and Hispanics

  • Poverty level affects mental health status. Hispanics living below the poverty level, as compared to Hispanics over twice the poverty level, are twice as likely to report psychological distress.
  • The death rate from suicide for Hispanic men is five times the rate for Hispanic women, in 2005.
  • However, the suicide rate for Hispanics is half that of the Non-Hispanic White population.
  • Suicide attempts for Hispanic girls, grades 9-12, were 60% higher than for White girls in the same age group, in 2005.
  • Non-Hispanic Whites received mental health treatment 3 times more often than Hispanics, in 2005.

MENTAL HEALTH STATUS:

Serious psychological distress among adults 18 years of age and over, percent, 2005-2006

Hispanic

Mexican American

Non-Hispanic White

Mexican/Non-Hispanic White Ratio

Hispanic/Non-Hispanic White Ratio

3.3

3.3

2.8

1.2

1.2

Source: CDC, 2007. Health United States, 2007. Table 61.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus07.pdf[PDF, 475KB]

Serious psychological distress among adults 18 years of age and over, percent of poverty level, 2005-2006

 

Hispanic

Non-Hispanic White

Hispanic/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio

Below 100%

5.1

8.9

0.6

100%-less than 200%

3.2

6.1

0.5

200% or more

2.6

1.6

1.6

Source: CDC, 2007. Health United States, 2007. Table 61.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus07.pdf[PDF, 475KB]

Percent of population with feelings of sadness, hopelessness, worthlessness, or that everything is an effort, all of the time, among persons 18 years of age and over, 2006

 

Hispanic

Non-Hispanic White

Hispanic/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio

Sadness

3.0

2.8

1.1

Hopelessness

2.2

1.9

1.2

Worthlessness

1.7

1.7

1.0

Everything is an effort

5.0

4.8

1.0

Source:  CDC 2007. Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Adults: 2006. Table 14.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_10/sr10_235.pdf[PDF, 3.7MB]

Percent of population with feelings of sadness, hopelessness, worthlessness, or that everything is an effort all of the time, among persons 18 years of age and over, 2006 ---Men

 

Hispanic Men

Non-Hispanic White Men

Hispanic Men/ Non-Hispanic White Men Ratio

Sadness

1.7

2.2

0.8

Hopelessness

1.3

1.5

0.9

Worthlessness

1.1

1.6

0.7

Everything is an effort

3.9

4.2

0.9

Source:  CDC 2007. Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Adults: 2006. Table 14.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_10/sr10_235.pdf[PDF, 3.7MB]

Percent of population with feelings of sadness, hopelessness, worthlessness, or that everything is an effort all of the time, among persons 18 years of age and over, 2006 ---Women

 

Hispanic Women

Non-Hispanic White Women

Hispanic Women/ Non-Hispanic White Women Ratio

Sadness

4.3

3.3

1.3

Hopelessness

3.0

2.2

1.4

Worthlessness

2.3

1.8

1.3

Everything is an effort

6.0

5.4

1.1

Source:  CDC 2007. Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Adults: 2006. Table 14.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_10/sr10_235.pdf[PDF, 3.7MB]

Percent of population with feelings of nervousness or restlessness, among persons 18 years of age and over, 2006

 

Hispanic

Non-Hispanic White

Hispanic/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio

Nervousness, all or most of time

4.5

4.0

1.1

Nervousness, some of time

9.6

11.6

0.8

Restlessness, all or most of time

4.9

6.0

0.8

Restlessness, some of time

8.6

12.0

0.7

Source:  CDC 2007. Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Adults: 2006. Table 16.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_10/sr10_235.pdf[PDF, 3.7MB]


DEATH RATES:

Age-Adjusted Death Rates for suicide, by sex, race and Hispanic Origin, 2005

 

Hispanic

Non-Hispanic White

Hispanic /Non-Hispanic White Ratio

Male

9.4

21.2

0.4

Female

1.8

5.3

0.3

Total

5.6

12.9

0.4

Source:  CDC, 2008. National Vital Statistic Report. Vol. 56, Num 10 Table 17.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr56/nvsr56_10.pdf[PDF, 2.3MB]

Age-adjusted death rates for suicide, by race, 2005

Hispanic

White

Hispanic/ White Ratio

5.6

12.0

0.5

Source: CDC, 2007. Health United States, 2007. Table 29.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus07.pdf[PDF, 475KB]

Death rates for suicide, age, race and Hispanic origin, 2005: Men

 

Hispanic Men

Non-Hispanic White Men

Hispanic Men/ Non-Hispanic White Men Ratio

15-24 years

12.1

18.4

0.7

25-44 years

11.2

26.6

0.4

45-64 years

10.7

28.2

0.4

65 years and over

14.1

33.2

0.4

All ages

9.4

21.2

0.4

Source: CDC, 2007. Health United States, 2007. Table 46.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus07.pdf[PDF, 475KB]

Death rates for suicide, age, race and Hispanic origin, 2005: Women

 

Hispanic Women

Non-Hispanic White Women

Hispanic Women/ Non-Hispanic White Women Ratio

15-24 years

2.7

3.9

0.7

25-44 years

2.2

7.4

0.3

45-64 years

2.1

8.7

0.4

65 years and over

2.0

4.3

0.5

All ages

1.8

5.3

0.3

Source: CDC, 2007. Health United States, 2007. Table 46.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus07.pdf[PDF, 475KB]


ADOLESCENTS:

Age-Adjusted Death Rates for Suicide: Ages 10 - 19

 

Hispanic

Non-Hispanic White

Hispanic /Non-Hispanic White Ratio

Male

5.4

8.0

0.7

Female

1.5

2.0

0.8

Total

3.5

5.3

0.7

Source:  CDC, 2008. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Web Based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) [ACCESSED 12/16/2008]
http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/wisqars

Suicidal ideation among students in grades 9–12, 2005
Percent of students who seriously considered suicide


 

Hispanic

Non-Hispanic White

Hispanic/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio

Male

11.9

12.4

1.0

Female

24.2

21.5

1.1

Source:  CDC, 2007. Health United States, 2007. Table 62.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus07.pdf[PDF, 475KB]

Suicide attempts among students in grades 9–12, 2005
Percent of students who attempted suicide


 

Non-Hispanic Black

Non-Hispanic White

Non-Hispanic Black/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio

Male

7.8

5.2

1.5

Female

14.9

9.3

1.6

Source:  CDC, 2007. Health United States, 2007. Table 62.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus07.pdf[PDF, 475KB]


ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE:

Percent of Adults age 18 and over who received mental health treatment or counseling in the past year, 2005

 

Hispanic

Non-Hispanic White

Hispanic/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio

Male

5.5

10.0

0.6

Female

10.3

19.8

0.5

Total

7.8

15.1

0.5

Source:  2006 National Healthcare Disparities Report. Table 243b.
http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/nhqr07/index.html

Percent of Adults age 18 and over who received prescription medications for mental health treatment or counseling, 2005

 

Hispanic

Non-Hispanic White

Hispanic/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio

Male

3.8

8.2

0.5

Female

7.8

17.0

0.5

Total

5.7

12.8

0.4

Source:  2007 National Healthcare Disparities Report. Table 245b.
http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/nhqr07/index.html

Adults 18 years of age and over reporting antidepressant drug use in the past month, age-adjusted percent, 1999-2002

 

Hispanic

Non-Hispanic White

Hispanic/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio

Men

1.8

6.1

0.3

Women

4.5

12.8

0.4

Total

3.1

9.5

0.3

Source:  CDC, 2007. Health United States, 2007. Data table for Figure 36.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus07.pdf[PDF, 475KB]

Adults age 18 and over with past year major depressive episode who received treatment for the depression, 2005

Hispanic

Non-Hispanic White

Hispanic/ Non-Hispanic White Ratio

50.2

69.8

0.7

Source:  2007 National Healthcare Disparities Report. Table 99b.
http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/nhqr07/index.html


You will need Adobe Acrobat® Reader™ to view PDF files located on this site. If you do not already have Adobe Acrobat® Reader™, you can download here for free. Exit Disclaimer



Content Last Modified: 1/9/2009 12:34:00 PM
OMH Home  |  HHS Home  |  USA.gov  |  Disclaimer  |  Privacy Policy  |  HHS FOIA  |  Accessibility  |  Site Map  |  Contact Us  |  File Formats

Office of Minority Health
Toll Free: 1-800-444-6472 / Fax: 301-251-2160
Email: info@omhrc.gov

Provide Feedback